American Airlines Cancels Flights to Brazil

American Airlines has announced the cancellation of several flights linking the United States to Brazil. The changes begin to apply as of August 21st. Some flights will be completely extinct, while others will decrease weekly.

According to American Airlines, passengers who have already purchased tickets for flights that will be canceled may request the change to travel for other flights operated by the company, which may be done in conjunction with partner companies.

The announcement comes just days after the company celebrates the approval by the National Congress of the open skies agreement between Brazil and the United States.

The agreement ends the limitation of flights between the two countries and was advocated as a way to increase the offer of flights, which would reduce the price of the tickets. The decision of the American airline, however, goes the opposite way with the reduction of supply in several cities. The changes American Airlines to Brazil are:

• Miami – São Paulo: Currently, there are three daily flights, two of which are nocturnal and one diurnal; as of August 21st, 2018, the day flight ceases to exist.

• Miami – Belo Horizonte: Total cancellation of the route as of August 21st, 2018.

• New York – Rio de Janeiro: Today, there are daily flights; as of August 21st, the frequency becomes five flights a week. There will be daily seasonal flights during the summer, operating through March 16th, 2019. Thereafter, this flight will only operate seasonally from December 2019.

• Los Angeles – São Paulo: Reduction from five to four times a week starting December 19th, 2018.

• Dallas – Rio de Janeiro: Total cancellation of the route as of December 19th, 2018.

Slow recovery of the economy

According to American Airlines, the cancellation occurs because of the slow recovery of the Brazilian economy.

“We are only managing our capacity in Brazil in response to market conditions that did not recover as quickly as we expected. American Airlines evaluates its network based on supply and demand on each route, ensuring our long-term success against global competition,” the company said in a statement.